The tournament begins!
by GendouIkarithefifth
Summary: A small town's tournament takes place when an unexpected visitor appears.
1. The beginning

chapter1ofthetourney

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or any other people in my story.

Steve's day started as normal. He woke up, jumped out of bed, changed and was out the door in the flash of an eye. He immediately pounded on his friend's door and apologized to his parents for waking them up again. Bill looked at his friend and yawned.

"I thought I told you not to wake me up again!"

"I couldn't help it today. I need practice for the tournament in three days. Only the best will show up. I heard that Joseph the pokémon master will be there!"

"Why would he go to a small town tourney like this?"

"I don't know but it isn't looking good for my chances. No one has ever beaten more than three of his six in a tournament."

"Fine. I'll fight you again. But, don't expect a better fight than yesterday and this is the last time this week."

With that the friends went into the backyard and the battle began.

"Blastoise, I choose you!" cried Steve.

Bill tilted his pokéball and made a short comment, "I'll play you with my new pokémon. Go Raichu!"

Steve looked at the new opponent with displeasure. As the new pokémon appeared he thought to himself, (It can't be too strong since he caught it yesterday. When did he catch it, though? He didn't have time yesterday. Oh well, I guess I'll have to revise my first plan.)

Both pokémon appear on the field and look at each other. The raichu thinks the battle is already won and Steve's blastoise is looking at the raichu with distaste. Finally Steve's mom looked out the window and shouted, "Fight already!"

"Blastoise be careful! That raichu might be able to beat you. Be careful and use far away attacks like your water gun, hydro pump or, if worse goes to worse, your hyper beam."

"Raichu don't worry. Use your thunder punch and your thunderbolt to get an easy win."

As the two pokémon received their orders they leaped into action. The blastoise started by shooting water out of his two cannons while the Raichu aimed a thundershock at the blastoise. The lightening hit the water and came back at the raichu, however the raichu easily evaded the attack with agility. Blastoise decided on a better attack and started gathering a beam around his mouth. 

Bill screamed, "Raichu dodge that hyper beam, speed up a bit!"

The raichu had started using agility and was disappearing from sight. The blastoise fired his beam at the raichu and connected. The raichu's joints immediately froze together.

Bill was dancing up and down on the side. "What the fuck just happened? What happened to my raichu, no hyper beam does that!"

Steve smiled at his friend, "You're right. No hyper beam does that, but an ice beam does."

Bill sat down in the grass. He took out a pokéball and returned his pokémon. "Everyone knows you're the best around this village. There isn't competition for miles. You're bound to do well in the tournament. I refuse to fight you and your pokémon until I'm forced to in the tourney."

Steve laid down on his back, "Fine, but don't expect any mercy in the tournament. That raichu will only get you so far."

"I'm going to sleep again. Ask someone else for a battle. See you in three days." Bill walked back into his house and didn't say another word. Steve couldn't help feeling sorry for his friend. A good friend but not such a good pokémon trainer. He sighed and decided to return home for lunch, "Come on blastoise. Return."

During the next three nights Steve had terrible visions and heard voices talking to him.

"Why do you want to be the pokémon champion?"

"I want to prove to myself that I can be the best at something."

"Do you think you will be fighting the best at the tournament?"

"Of course, Joseph will be there!"

"Joseph? That man couldn't win a battle to save his life, this isn't the end though. You'll meet me someday."

Steve covered his ears and started moving away from the voice. He couldn't get it out, though. It spoke straight into his mind. He started running as fast as he could to get away from the voice.

"Steve wake up!"

Steve quickly sat up, panting and sweating. He looked up at his mother, who was looking at him curiously. "What's wrong, mom?"

"You were screaming in your sleep, are you feeling okay?"

"Of course, just a bad dream."

"Okay, wake up. It's time for the tourney."

"Okay."


	2. The tournament's cut short

  
Disclaimer: As stated before I don't own pokémon or the people in my story.

Steve woke up on the day of the tournament feeling happy yet scared. He knew he had a chance in the tournament, if he used his pokémon wisely, but the nightmare had frightened him a bit. After he woke up and ate breakfast he was out the door and waiting outside the arena, ready to sign up. He started to notice people looking at him and making small comments about him and his pokémon.

(I guess they heard about me) he thought.

All of a sudden people started screaming and trying to see who had arrived. When everyone gasped, Steve knew it had to be Joseph.

(This guy is my major competition, I guess I'll have to worry about him.)

Joseph walked over to Steve and looked straight at him, "You're Steve? Welcome to the tournament. I hear you're a good trainer. Some even say you are better than me. We shall soon see who is better. Steve, don't expect me to go lightly on you. See you in the ring."

As he walked away Steve just felt himself seething from the guy's lack of friendliness. (What's crawled up his ass? This is the champion that everyone looks up to and adores? This bastard?)

He slowly walked up and signed up for the tournament.

A man walked over to Steve before the tournament had officially started and asked him some questions about his pokémon. Steve wasn't really listening and just talked and answered his questions without to much thought. However, one statement caught in his mind. "I told you that you would meet me someday."

"The first match will be between Joseph and Mario."

"That's my match." Said the stranger. "I'll see you after the tournament, Steve."

(Who is this guy, I've never seen him before. At least, I can't remember seeing him. When did he tell me I would meet him?)

As the tournament started the match began. Mario had chosen to start with a bellsprout and Joseph started with a charizard. As soon as the bell sounded the bellsprout attacked the charizard and beat it with a tackle.

"What the fuck! How did that just happen?" cried Joseph.

"Your pokémon aren't very strong if they can't beat a bellsprout. Who are you again?" Mario answered his cry.

"Bastard! I'll teach you for that! Go Aerodactyl!" 

As the rock pokémon came flying out of the pokéball he swept straight for the bellsprout. As it drew near the bellsprout used growth and grew larger at a great rate. In mere seconds it towered over the aerodactyl and shot a leaf at it, causing it to fall to the ground.

(Whoa, this guys good. How did he just take out two of Joseph's pokémon with such a shrimp?)

Joseph couldn't believe the luck and decided to forfeit right then. "How can you be the pokémon champion when a bellsprout can defeat you? You give up after two pokémon fail you? I can't believe you." The man cackled as the pokémon champion walked away, beaten and trodden over.

A news caster walked over to the man instantly, "What's your name, sir?"

"I'm not Mario. That was merely the name I used to get into the tournament. My actual name is Zack. I have watched you people strain your pokémon for too long. After watching you use them for battle I see no reason for you to exist. Therefore I will now destroy human kind so pokémon can live happy lives without human intervention. I am calling all you trainers who have the balls, to come and fight me in the mountains northwest of here. Good luck. Steve, I will expect you there. You far surpass the champion's abilities. Fight me and if anyone can beat me, I will spare your lives. Good-bye." As he spoke he started floating, and before long he had flown away.

(Scary, this guy is very odd. I really don't want to fight him but what chance do I have?)

As he was leaving many other trainers hopped in their cars and started driving on the road out towards the mountains. Obviously, many were trying to get there first. As they sped off Steve was wondering if all that had happened was just a dream. (Who could this guy be? He seemed to know me and now he challenged me to a pokémon battle in the mountains. This all seems like a… a…) As he walked down the road he realized who that man was. (He's the one from my dream. He wants to kill us all but if anyone can beat him we will be spared. He thinks I'm his greatest competition. That's why he talked to me in my dreams. He needs to beat me to feel like his greatest enemy is out of the way. I must beat him, now.)

After he arrived home, his mom looked at him as he gathered his stuff. Wondering what the hurry was she decided to at least wait until he finished packing.

"Where are you going, Steve?" she asked quietly.

"To the mountains mom. I have to go to save the world. An odd man appeared at the tournament today and called out the strongest pokémon trainers to fight him. He called me out separately, so I have to go mom. The lives of this village are on the line. Please don't try and stop me this time." 

He slowly walked to the door and left. His mom was overwhelmed with grief and was incredibly scared for her son's life.

(If there's a god in heaven, please watch my son for me. I don't know what would happen to me if he died out there.)


	3. A fight with a friend and a walk up a mo...

Disclaimer: As always I don't own pokémon or the people in my story

Disclaimer: As always I don't own pokémon or the people in my story.

After a few hours the mountain came closer into view. Soon Steve was upon it. 

(Walking here sucked. I'm mankind's savior and I have to walk to the competition. The others must be getting a kick seeing a kid walk to the tournament while they drive there.)

After reaching the foot of the mountain he stopped to rest. As he sat down a voice prodded him to keep moving. (Don't sit down. You have a good day's worth of walking ahead of you. If you don't want to battle stay here but if you stop now you won't get to fight.)

"Shut up and go away. I'll move when I want to. If Zack wants to fight me that badly he wait for me to get there." Steve replied. 

(Fine, but I'm just warning you. If you aren't there, no one will be able to stop him. So sit and rest while the others get defeated and are killed.)

"Killed! What are you planning? How can you kill innocent people just because they challenged you! You asked them to attack you, so how can you hold their courage against them?"

(So you realized that I'm talking directly to you. You're a lot smarter than I thought. No matter. There is no courage in those people attitudes. They are kids who think they are invincible. Its arrogance and pride, neither are worthy attributes. Didn't I mention that I would destroy the   
human race? What are a few lives of unworthy trainers to the world? You have plenty of trainers who aren't worthy to speak to you because of how they treat their pokémon. Realize that you hold potential above these others. You are much better than people believe you are. Defeat the trainers that pose a problem to you, and succeed in the task at hand. Defeat me Steve. If you can't beat me then I was wrong about your technique.)

Steve decided he had rested up enough and started walking. When he had been walking for twenty minutes he heard a voice calling from below. As he turned he noticed Bill walking towards him.

"Hey, Steve. Are you going to fight that crazy old man?" Bill asked.

"Of course. What else would I be doing halfway up the mountain?" Steve replied.

"I can't let you go on. You have to fight me to get through."

"What? What's wrong Bill? You don't like fighting me."

(A warm-up. Your friend is your first battle up the mountain. And remember the clock is ticking.)

"Bastard. Fine, Bill. Expect no mercy! Go gyaradoes!"

"Raichu, go!"

(Not this again. I don't want to fight my weakness. Oh well, it's training all over again.) 

His gyaradoes appeared in the lake across the street from them and his friend let his raichu go near the water. The pokémon stared at each other, thinking of how they could defeat the other. The gyaradoes didn't like the odds of water and lightning and the raichu was hesitant to attack first, still bearing the fear from the fight with blastoise.

"Raichu, thunderbolt the lake itself. It's a sure hit."

"Gyaradoes tunnel over to the Raichu underground."

The Raichu gathered energy and sent a lightning bolt at the water. As the thunderbolt hit the water the gyaradoes jumped out of the water and fired a hyper beam at the Raichu. 

(Not what I asked him to do but I guess that works.)

After the attack is finished the Raichu weakly gets up off the ground limping over to the lake and sticks his tail in the water, sending an electrical current through the water. The gyaradoes surfaces at the end of this attack and rams right into the pokémon with a skull bash. After the raichu lands it tries to get up but can't make it.

"Bill, call it back. It's too weak to continue fighting. Come on, this is torture it's going through." Steve screamed at his friend.

"Fine, Raichu return. I'll let you go, but I'll fight you as frequently as possible. Bye Steve."

His friend walked back to the town cursing all the way.

(So you've finished the first test. Keep going Steve. You aren't even close to finishing. Good bye for now.)

(I'll get you for turning my friend against me, you bastard.)


	4. Fighting Joseph, Round 1

Disclaimer: Pokémon and the characters aren't mine, blah

Disclaimer: Pokémon and the characters aren't mine, blah.

As he climbed the mountain many different people had challenged Steve to a fight. After his thirteenth battle he wished Zack wouldn't bug him so much.

(What kind of an attitude is that for the future champion? Come on Steve. Show me how tough you are.)

"Even I have limits. I might not have found them yet, but my pokémon are getting more tired every time I have to fight someone. As if that weren't everything I have to face, you also force these people to fight their pokémon as hard as they can some to the point they can't move after a match. I have to be careful not to kill any of them. For being so protective of the pokémon as you are, you shouldn't be making it so hard on them to beat me."

(It's not me that fight you. It's the trainer. I might get them to fight you, but I no longer control them once the fight begins. If the trainer has some compassion, he will stop the battle as soon as it becomes clear that you will defeat him. If it's a harsh trainer, they won't stop until their pokémon can't fight anymore. As you can see this isn't safe for the pokémon. These people are dangerous. My plan will eliminate these types of people. Do you not see my side now?)

"Sorry, but you threaten my mom, me and all my friends. I can't let you get away with that. Zack, here I come!"

After this conversation Steve continued to climb up the mountain. Near the top an aerodactyl swooped at his head. 

"Who's there? Why are you attacking me?" Steve yelled at whoever could hear.

"Steve, I told you not to expect mercy. This battle will take place now. We will see who is better and who will fight Zack! Prepare yourself!"

With that, Joseph told his aerodactyl to attack Steve again. Steve let out his blastoise and got ready for the battle ahead. The blastoise shot both his cannons at the aerodactyl. The aerodactyl fought against this with his hyper beam attack. Both collided together making the water spray everywhere. The blastoise took the opportunity and used a blizzard on the awaiting aerodactyl. As the ice shards gathered around the aerodactyl, it gathered heat around it's body to help melt the ice. Both pokémon backed away from the fight and stared at it's competitor. Instantly the fight was back on. 

(This guy's good. How can I beat him? He counters every attack I make. Damn. There's got to be some way of… okay… I see it.)

"Blastoise, create a solid ice pillar on the ground into the air."

As the blastoise started using ice beam, ice was freezing in the cold air and started to collect together. The pillars were in a systematic order. The blastoise started moving around the pillars ad using them for cover while looking for a spot to attack aerodactyl from.

"Nice try, Steve, but it won't work. Aerodactyl use your hyper beam to break those pillars apart."

As the aerodactyl charged up his hyper beam the blastoise attacked with hydro pump from behind. The aerodactyl noticed the attack, but had no time to evade the attack before it hit. The aerodactyl fell to the ground and couldn't get up.

"Damn, you are good. You won't beat that old man though. Your pokémon are too slow. Anyway, you took too much time. The battles will be over soon. You have five minutes to reach the summit before he leaves. Looks like I win in the end. You'll never make it in time." Joseph started to laugh at Steve who had started running up the mountain.

As Steve reached the summit he saw the old man flying away.

"Your pokémon are too tired to battle me now. I'm moving to a different town. Just try and find me. I'll guide you there, of course, but I won't stay stationary for too long. I'll give you a week to find me and defeat me in a match. Good-bye for now, Steve."

"Bastard, I'll catch you. If you can't wait for me then I'll knock you out of the sky. Go fearow!"

As the fearow appears, a different pokémon appears and seems to be holding it in place, yet it never touched the fearow.

"What is that? I've never seen that pokémon before."

(Don't fear me. I will not let you attack my master, unless he allows you to in a fight. Since he is flying away he can't do much to stop your attack. However, I can. If you persist in trying to attack my defenseless master I will be forced to destroy your fearow.)

"What are you though? I should know what you are. I will leave your master alone if you will tell me."

(Fine. I am a mew. I am the only one in existence. Now I have told you. Leave this place now. Good-bye.)

As the mew floated out of sight, Steve felt a new emergence of hatred. (He expected me to try and attack hi while he was leaving. I guess I'm just as dishonorable as he thinks I am. I've got to beat him now, but that mew is one strong pokémon. Stopped my fearow just with a look. I'll find you and defeat you, Zack.)


	5. Meeting Mario

Disclaimer: I don't own pokémon, though I wish I did, or the people in my story

Disclaimer: I don't own pokémon, though I wish I did, or the people in my story.

After coming down from the mountain Steve found a crowd awaiting him. They all gathered around him to hear what had been said to him by Zack. 

"Zack has left the mountain. Unfortunately he flew away before I could fight him. He'll be sending the most promising trainers instructions to get to where he is in many different ways. Also, I found out another of his pokémon. He owns a mew. Does anyone know what a mew is?"

At the mentioning of the name mew, the crowd became silent. Finally, one person stepped forward.

"Mew is a devastating pokémon. Its psychic powers are incredible. No one has ever caught a mew, at least no one that we know of. If he has one then he holds immense power in his hands. His pokémon are even more powerful then expected. Steve, one last question. Did you see Joseph up on the mountain? After his defeat today we didn't know if he would challenge that man again."

"Unfortunately, I did see the pokémon champion up there but he… (Maybe I shouldn't tell them he attacked me. I should give them hope.) He was fighting Zack when I got there, so you have nothing to fear. He'll protect you. I'm sure the only reason he got beaten before was because the man caught him off guard. I'm sure Joseph will follow Zack and keep fighting. Now I have to leave now to follow Zack. I sent my Fearow up to keep watching him. So, I need to leave before my fearow loses his track. Good-bye."

As a cheer went up from the crowd, Steve was uncertain about how this would turn out. He also made sure to try and give the villagers hope. He found his Fearow down quite a ways and asked him where Zack had gone when a voice appeared in his head.

(No cheating, Steve. Your Fearow was psychically frozen. He couldn't keep up with us so you have to wait to find out where we're going just like everyone else. Good-bye.)

Steve smiled, seeing as there was no alternative he decided to follow in the last known direction of Zack. He was going down the road, whistling a song when all of a sudden a pokémon started doing back-flips in front of him. This might not have seemed odd if it had been a small creature like a jigglypuff or a clefairy, however a snorlax was doing back-flips, well if you could call them back-flips. Steve immediately recognized this as an odd occurrence. He waited for the snorlax to finish his routine before he asked what it was doing. 

(Sorry if you don't like me talking to you psychically, but it's the only way to give you my 

message. You are on the correct path Steve. Unsurprisingly, you have been able to keep ahead 

of the rest of the trainers. However, your lead is being cut short by another. Zack took his name 

for the tournament. His name is Mario. He's almost as good a trainer as you. He will try to 

defeat you in a battle, so keep your guard up and don't trust anyone. Go east into the village of 

Montanell. There you will find a person named Jarred. He will give you instructions on where 

to go from the village."

After the snorlax walked away, Steve continued on to the village of Montanell. Unfortunately, he didn't know where Jarred lived, or what he looked like. So he decided to talk to the villagers to gather as much information as he could about Zack or any other pokémon trainers that came through their village.

"Not many people have come through here lately. In fact, you are the first one I've seen in weeks." Commented one villager.

"Nice to know. Have any odd things been happening in the village? An odd man left his home near my town and some strange things were happening there."

"Nothing really out of the ordinary. However, some people can say they hear a man laughing in the back of their minds, and some have seen pokémon doing some odd things."

"Odd things?" (Steve could remember the snorlax doing back-flips)

"Some pokémon are helping out others in ways never recorded before. The rattata's are helping the digletts dig their homes. It's like a society is being shaped right outside our town. It just doesn't seem normal."

"That really doesn't seem normal. Do you know who Jarred is?"

"Is that the reason you came here, Steve?"

"How did you know my name? Let me guess yours then. You're Jarred, right?"

The man laughed a bit, "Of course it is. You could've been asking around for quite a while in this village before anyone would point you n the right direction. Anyway, I know why you're here. However, I can't tell you more than a single direction. Go north through the forest. After a while he will send another messenger. Steve, this will be your hardest battle. Don't slack, for fear of your life!"

With that the man started walking away. Steve decided not to follow him and to continue on in the forest. After walking for a while, another kid came walking up the same path and Steve started talking to him.

"I haven't seen a lot of kids taking this path."

"Not many are supposed to. I'm guessing you're Steve."

"Good guess, though I'm not sure how you know my name. Unless you've been talked to by Zack."

"Yes. Zack has been talking to me about fighting him for a while. Traveling is boring, though and no one I knew could fight Zack. My friends weren't very good trainers and any other people that were good trainers became my enemies. When I heard about Zack and his public statement of resenting mankind I decided to follow him and someday beat him."

"You know my name, but I don't know yours. Who are you?"

"I'm Mario. I plan on taking down Zack, so stay out of my way. I heard from Zack that you're a better trainer than I am, so I won't fight you yet. I will stay with you and watch you battle. Even if we're fighting for the same cause, we won't be allies. Plan for a fight after Zack's gone."

At this point all talking between them stopped. Steve thought about what was said and was trying to figure the new kid out.

(He seems a little arrogant, but he does seem nice enough. Excessive pride. I guess to him I'm strong competition. I should get used to him though. If he plans on following me he'll be watching how I battle. Hopefully, I will watch him fight sometimes and see his weaknesses and strengths. Also Zack doesn't want me to get to know him. He told me to think of him as an enemy. )


	6. Fighting an unknown enemy

Disclaimer: I don't own pokémon or the people in my story

Disclaimer: I don't own pokémon or the people in my story.

After Mario and Steve woke up they ate breakfast and quickly started moving down the road. Suddenly, a ball of fire passed by Steve.

"Who's there and why are you attacking me?"

A kid stepped into the light but didn't say anything. Instead he pulled out a pokéball and sent out a machamp.

"The silent type? Fine, I'll fight you. Go Alakazam."

The other trainer scowled at the alakazam, but decided to keep going.

"Machamp use your mega punch!"

"Alakazam don't let him hit you. Teleport away from him and hit him with a psybeam!"

As the machamp ran at the alakazam it disappeared and reappeared behind the machamp, firing the beam of energy it had gathered right into the machamp's body. The machamp stumbled a bit but was able to keep its balance and grabbed the alakazam, throwing with a seismic toss into the ground.

"Nice recovery, but it won't keep alakazam down." Steve commented.

Alakazam was up in an instant and was using hypnosis on the machamp. After the Machamp was sleeping the alakazam started looking intently at the machamp, who started grimacing with pain.

"What's happening to my machamp?" screamed the kid.

Steve smiled and watched as the last bit of energy was sapped from the machamp.

"I didn't expect that attack to work as well as it did. Haven't you heard of dream eater? It slowly drains the life out of the sleeping pokémon. Cool attack, don't you think?

"Return machamp. Kid, I don't mind being beaten, but your smug attitude pisses me off. Are you ready for a double or nothing round?"

"Ready when you are. Alakazam return."

"Go, my precious pikachu."

"A pikachu? Okay then I'll give it a taste of my hitmonchan."

The pikachu appeared and stared at the hitmonchan, who had appeared and was warming up.

"Let's start this slowly. Start with a thunder shock and work up to thunder."

"Hitmonchan, don't let him hit you. Move fast and hit him from every angle."

As the pikachu started its attack the hitmonchan disappeared from sight. The pikachu wasn't sure of where it had gone but started running around to make sure it wasn't getting attacked from behind. The hitmonchan reappeared in front of the pikachu and hit the pikachu with an ice punch. As the pikachu got up from the first attack the hitmonchan attacked with its comet punch. The pikachu got up and smiled at the hitmonchan's attacks and countered with his thunderbolt.

"I didn't think your pikachu would take that. I underestimated you, but not again. Hitmonchan find an opening for a seismic toss."

As the pikachu started another attack with a thunderbolt, the hitmonchan picked it up and threw it against the side of the mountain. As the pikachu got up shaking his head the hitmonchan used a mega punch to knock it back into the mountain's side. When it seemed like the match was over the pikachu used thunder wave and paralyzed the hitmonchan. As the pikachu climbed out of the mountain, the hitmonchan tried to shake off the paralysis and attacked the pikachu with another mega punch.

"Pikachu, use your agility to get away from this guy."

The pikachu started running in a circle, gathering speed until it was barely noticeable to the human eye. The hitmonchan was struggling to attack it while the pikachu barraged it from all angles with a quick attack. Finally the hitmonchan toppled over, unwilling to keep fighting.

"Return hitmonchan. Sorry you got so injured. The pikachu is strong."

"Thanks. However, we need to decide this match. Last battle. Go primeape."

"Fine, I'll treat you with my great and wonderful blastoise."

As the combatants appeared on the field the wind shifted. Mario stood on the side by a tree watching the matches with wonder. He decided to start this match. "Go!"

The blastoise jumped straight for the primeape's arm and attacked it with a bite that tore some of it's muscle from the tendon. The primeape grabbed it's hurt arm and cried out in pain. The blastoise dug into the ground, making a hole and threw the primeape down the hole. As soon as he was sure the primeape had hit the ground he started firing at the primeape with both his cannons. After the hole was filled with water the primeape climbed back on shore.

"Primeape, don't give up. You can fight that thing. It won't take long to beat it."

The primeape scratched the blastoise but immediately regretted it because of it's hurt arm. Blastoise started gathering energy around itself and moved closer to the primeape for the finishing touch. The primeape started to run away from the blastoise, but the blastoise released the beam, which swallowed up the primeape and knocked it out with it's force.

"Good fight. I want to know your name now that I've beaten you."

"Sorry, I would love to tell you but…" He looked both ways and whispered into Steve's ear, "it's a secret."

Steve looked at the man and walked away from him. Mario caught up with him and questioned him about the battle.

"How could you've lost with your hitmonchan? That was such an easy match to win."

"I wasn't really trying to win that match. I'm getting tired of the constant battles. Obviously I maimed him in the last round, but that was because my hitmonchan got knocked out and I was pissed about that."

"So if you had tried, you would've won the second match?"

"Of course. That was an easy fight, as you said. The thunder wave did catch me by surprise, though."

"Is that blastoise your strongest pokémon? It seemed a lot stronger than his pokémon. In fact, it seemed stronger than all his pokémon."

"My blastoise has been with me for a long time, so it gathered more experience then my others. Than my gyaradoes, followed by my alakazam, next fearow, then my magneton and finally my hitmonchan. The gap between my gyaradoes and my blastoise isn't too big, though."

"Interesting. Look down the road. I see a person who's waiting for you and me."

"I'm hoping it's not another battler."

As the reached the person he approached them, not for a battle but with a message.

"As always Steve, you are the first trainer to arrive at my checkpoint. You arrive with company this time." He looked at Mario, then turned back to Steve. "It seems you are almost to your next location. There is an abandoned warehouse near here. Zack is waiting inside to talk to you. Hurry, if you're too late he'll leave again. Bye now."

With that the man disappeared. Steve took off at a running pace and Mario caught up with him shortly. The warehouse was in sight and they were almost out of breath. When they finally reached the warehouse Steve opened the doors and they both stepped inside.


	7. The fight with Zack

Disclaimer: Do I have to put this on every chapter

Disclaimer: Do I have to put this on every chapter? Oh well. I don't own pokémon or the people in my story.

Once inside the warehouse the pair looked around for signs of life. After noting that the area looked like it had been abandoned for years they started to look around for Zack, taking special care not to make to much noise. As the door behind them closed, it became too dark to see.

"I can't see in this place." Mario glanced at Steve like he was calculating something in his mind, then he sighed and decided to go ahead with his idea. "Go flareon. Give us some light."

The room instantly lit up. (Why did he stare at me before he let his flareon out? Now that I think about it he never lets me see his pokémon. I guess he doesn't want to show me which ones he has, to make it a surprise in our first battle.)

"You have a flareon? What other pokémon do you have?"

"It doesn't matter what pokémon I have. You aren't supposed to be watching me. You should be watching out for Zack and some of his pokémon sneak attacking you."

"Zack wouldn't do that. He has morals like a normal human. Unfortunately his morals made him go psycho. However, he wouldn't do something as dishonorable as attacking me without warning. I've learned that much about him."

"Fine, believe what you want to believe. I won't psychoanalyze Zack like you have to figure out how he'll act. I'll get along with you until this is over, then I won't need to talk to you anymore."

"That's comforting to know. I guess that puts a damper on our friendship from the beginning. Oh well, just keep in mind that I'm not going to help you fight Zack. It will be the one on one battle he wants."

"Don't think that scares me. Obviously you doubt my skill as a trainer if you think I would need your help to fight Zack. I would fight you here to settle this dispute if we didn't have a time limit to finding Zack. So shut up and leave this fight until after Zack is defeated."

"Fine, but don't you ever talk back to me as if you were superior to me. I'm known as the best and I don't expect you and your flareon to defeat me."

With that they walked on in silence, looking for Zack. Suddenly, a pokémon was seen climbing up the stairs. It looked like a bellsprout. Steve realized that he had seen it before but couldn't remember where he had seen it.

"Now I remember where I saw that bellsprout. Zack used it when he was posing as you in the tournament."

"Zack posed as me? Why would he pose as me if you're the best?"

"Obviously he couldn't go as me because I was there. Now shush and follow the bellsprout."

(I think that might shut him up for a while. Now I guess we follow the bellsprout to Zack.)

The bellsprout took them down the stairs at a slow pace. Mario thought that Zack had sent his pokémon to slow them down while he escaped, but Steve said the idea was absurd because Zack wouldn't leave one of his pokémon behind. Mario scoffed at the idea but kept walking. Finally they reached the bottom of the stairs and were still guided by the bellsprout, through the maze.

(Why would anyone build a maze in his basement, and why would a maze be in the basement of a warehouse? That's rather odd.) 

After thinking for a while Steve still couldn't figure the maze out. It was Mario, who was thinking faster than Steve, who came up with the solution.

"Zack's been here since he left your town and has been setting up this maze to make us waste time getting to him. This guy thinks too far ahead."

"But why would he spend his time making this maze when he could've been moving all this time, getting farther away from us? This was just a waste of his time, considering we have a guide in the maze."

"Not everyone will, Steve. If we don't beat Zack now, he'll leave again, leaving a clue to his whereabouts in the maze. Then the trainers after us will have to find their own way through the maze to get that clue. He won't give them a guide. Like you said, he wouldn't leave a pokémon behind. So the others can't get a guide. Just us, as a prize for being the first ones."

(Steve, I warned you about Mario. You see that he already is figuring out my plans, not to mention you already noticed how odd he acts around you. He means well, mind you. He just never seems to make friends and he doesn't plan on making one now. He feels more like battling as his life. Don't feel threatened by him. Just, don't expect him to tell you everything you want to know about him. You also might have noticed how quickly he thought through the matter of what my maze is doing here. He's quite the genius. He is crafty and that's what makes him a tougher opponent then you.)

Steve looked at Mario for a while thinking about what Zack had just said. When Mario looked at him he quickly glanced in another direction and tried to look at the maze around them. Finally they stopped and the bellsprout scampered away. After waiting for a couple of minutes, Zack finally appeared, "Welcome to you both. So, who will fight me first?"

Mario ran forward pushing Steve back, "I will fight you first. Bring it on!"

Steve decided to let him go, and to watch the fight. (Now's my chance to see all his pokémon.)

Zack pushed his bellsprout forward, "This is the first opponent, who will you use."

Mario whispered in his flareon's ear, "I'll use my flareon."

As the two pokémon got ready for the fight, Steve looked at both the trainers. Zack looked a bit uneasy, but still looked like he had already won, while Mario looked a bit scared but his confidence kept him from revealing it. Steve decided the match was a waste if it never started.

"Alright you two. Begin the fight, now."

The flareon started with a fire spin that tore at the bellsprout's leaves and kept it trapped inside. As the bellsprout avoided the flames it used a flamethrower that swallowed and burnt the leaves off the bellsprout. As the bellsprout got out of the fire spin it used growth the get bigger, but stopped growing and fell to the ground.

"What happened? My bellsprout shouldn't have been beaten that easily!" Zack screamed.

Mario smiled, "Your bellsprout used its energy to get bigger. Unfortunately, it was burnt and when it used the extra energy the fire spread more rapidly and the damage got greater as it grew. Come on, Zack. That was an easy two move fight."

"Don't piss me off kid. I don't plan on hearing your explanation of why I lost. Since you already pissed me off, I'll use my best on you. My mew will be the toughest opponent for both of you."

The mew floated off his shoulder and got into a fighting position.

"Go, and Mario, that Mew is VERY strong."

The mew glanced at the flareon and it froze in its place. The mew then picked it up with its psychic powers and crashed it repeatedly against the wall of the house. The battle was over in a mere minute.

"How did you just… that shouldn't have happened! That sucks. You've beaten my flareon. I don't want to show you too many of my pokémon, so I'll let Steve fight you now."

"Too late. Since you quit I've fought my battle. When you find me again, Steve can fight me. Not until then, so good bye for now."

His mew was already gone when he got up and flew away. As if the ceiling weren't there, he went right through it.

"There has to be some way to beat that mew! Did you see how it just killed my flareon? That wasn't even funny." Mario screamed.

"I'll ask around, but the strongest pokémon I've ever heard about is mew. Come on, it's time to start moving again. We don't want to lose him again."

They both tried to get out of the maze, but couldn't figure it out. Finally the flareon used flamethrower to break a hole through the top and they climbed out. As they reached the door, they found a note attached. It read…

"Sorry for all who are following me, you just missed me. Head quickly through the village and try to find a way across the river. It'll take a while, but don't dawdle. See you there, Zack.

P.S. I'm not completely evil, since I gave you his note now. Thank Steve and Mario for it. You won't get this kindness again.

They decided to head straight for the river, and had thoughts of how to beat the mew.


	8. Mario fights an old friend

Disclaimer: I don't own pokémon or the people in my story.

After reaching the river, Steve and Mario find themselves stuck. The river's currents are moving much too fast for either to cross by foot and if they tried to cross and were unsuccessful, they would fall into the water and be swept down the river to a waterfall.

(There's got to be some way across the river. Even if we get across, we don't know where Zack will be after that. This sucks. I can think of a few ways across, but there are always some risks.)

"I could try to cross on my blastoise or my gyaradoes. I don't know if they would be able to take the current, but it's worth a shot."

"Would you chance it? We're only dealing with your life."

"Then what would you do? We can't just wait here for Moses to part the river. We need to go before we lose Zack."

Again an odd look came over Mario's face. He seemed to be calculating his actions again. Finally he sighed and sent out a pokémon. When the snorlax appeared it clogged the river and they both crossed safely behind it. When they had crossed Mario returned his pokémon with a scowl.

"You hate having to show me your pokémon, don't you?"

"Shut up, that isn't the subject. We need a clue about Zack."

"Zack isn't a real concern. He'll talk to me when he's closer. What I want to know is why you almost refuse to show me your pokémon until a situation arises and you are forced to. Are you so scared of me that you refuse to show me your pokémon? That maybe if I don't see them they'll have a greater effect on me in battle? I don't know what your problem is, but don't expect me to be nice to you when you still regard me as your enemy."

"First, I don't care if you're nice to me because in more ways then one you are my enemy. Secondly, yes. I believe that if you don't know what my pokémon are you won't be able to predict what I'll use and it'll install a certain uneasiness in you during our battle. Also, I don't think your pokémon have a chance against that mew so don't talk to me like you have a chance to save the world."

The two walked on in silence, never looking at the other until a man jumped out of the shadows.

Mario stared at the person and thought hard, with an awkward look on his face. He turned to Steve and motioned him to leave. As Steve walked away he turned a corner but stopped to listen to the man and Mario.

"Why are you facing me here?" 

The stranger walked up to Mario smiling, "Leaving you alone isn't half as much fun as annoying the hell out of you."

Mario smiled, "So sorry to disappoint you but I need to move on. Talking to you is a waste of my time and breath since I now you'll squander your time with a battle that you have no chance to win. I swear, if you put a little bit of time into your thinking then you would be able to draw better conclusions without having to come out here and attempt to fight me to find them. If I must beat you then I will."

The man flushed at this and turned his back to Mario while mumbling something Steve couldn't hear. Mario regarded him and decided the comment wasn't a nice thing to say.

"When you're ready." Mario pulled out a pokéball and waited for the man to start.

"Then you're ready. Good because I've been training and won't be an easy opponent. Here we go. Pidgeot go!"

"Snorlax, its time for a fight. Greet your old friend with a nice victory."

As the two pokémon appeared, they looked at one another and got ready for the fight. Then the snorlax ran at the pidgeot and crashed into it with a body slam. The bird shook off the blow and attacked the snorlax with a quick attack, but couldn't inflict much damage on the behemoth. The bird decided that its arsenal of regular attacks wouldn't have the intended effect and would use only moves that concentrated on his ability to use large attacks. As the snorlax charged a hyper beam the pidgeot quickly used an agility attack to stay ahead of the already slow pokémon. As the beam was fired the pidgeot took the attack straight on.

Mario smirked as the bird was hit, "don't tell me you trained your pokémon to hurt themselves."

"You should know me better by now. Pidgeot, use your mirror move."

The pidgeot fired a hyper beam at the snorlax, who was unable to avoid the blast. As the snorlax took the hit he flinched but was able to hold out. As soon as the blow passed he went to sleep, resting to heal his wounds.

"Your pokémon sleep in the middle of a battle? You mocked my idea yet sleep while my pokémon can hit it with an attack?"

"Calm down. Snorlax knows what to do."

Suddenly the ground started trembling from the force that came from the snorlax's throat. As the sound reached the bird, he fell to the ground from the pain of the sound.

"The snore will handle your bird." Mario pulled out the earplugs he had for just such an emergency. "I hope you can stay here and keep your hearing. He'll get a lot louder."

"Fine, you win. Pidgeot return." The bird was transferred back to its pokéball. "I won't forget this. I will beat you someday, Mario."

"Return Snorlax. And I know you'll remember this day. I'm sure you can recount ever time I've beaten you. I would love to relive them all but I must get going." As he placed the pokéball on his hip he walked around the corner, only to come face to face with his friend, and rival, Steve.

"Nice battle, Mario. You're going to be a hard challenge later."

"I thought I told you to keep going."

"Well not really. So we need to get going. This is taking long enough and I don't want another battle forced upon either one of us."

"Fine, yet Zack's plans remain unknown. Not to mention we don't know where we need to go."

"Come on. You think Zack would give up the chance to meet us. He has yet to fight me, though he killed you."

"Shut up and keep walking. I'll beat him when I have to. Now shut up and be on the lookout. If there's a sign of a village we're going to spend the night there."

"Okay. I know where a village is near here. I mean I have this map." Steve pulled out a map from his backpack.

"Where did you get that? We've been wandering around lost when you had a map? Imbecile! Oh well, let's go to the town to stay for the night."


	9. Stranded, lost, why not enter a tourney.

Disclaimer: I don't own pokémon or the people in my story, well I could own Steve. Silly kid. Anyway, on with my story.

The two kids walked into the pokémon center and decided to let their pokémon get healed as they ate and slept. After breakfast they gathered their pokémon, backpacks and newly found map and left the center to look around town. Halfway through the day they both sat down and looked disgusted.

"Zack hasn't left us a single clue. This is the first time he's left us stranded. What an odd man. He wants to fight me yet doesn't stop to take the time to fight me, and only gives me a chance when he knows I can't succeed. Finding him is taking a long time and is quite tiring. We need a damn clue."

"Zack always gives us clues. Maybe this time he'll come to meet us and fight you. If he's beaten me already then you need to fight him. As boring as this is we have to wait. Not to mention we have yet to be challenged in the middle of a town so staying here might let us take a break from fighting on the road. Good enough reasons for you to be quite, stop groaning and loosen up?"

"Fine, though I think he should've given us a clue by now. This place is boring. Towns without things happening in them are just boring and a battle would be nice to spice things up in this place. It's a nice town but it lacks activity. Let's go look in some of the shops."

They went into shops and looked at items until a hitmonchan walked up to them and handed them a flyer. It was for a tournament being held in the village in a week with a $20,000 prize for first place. The two looked at the flyer and went to sign up. They made sure to be in different categories, so they wouldn't have to fight right away.

"If we have to fight, then at least make them work for it. It needs to be like the finals or the semi-finals. That way if we fight it'll be a drawn out fight that will be worth the wait."

Mario smiled, "agreed, though I won't have the heart to beat you."

"Glad to see you'll take it seriously. We'll see what happens in a few days."

The two stayed over night in the pokémon center and were up early training against people outside the village. By the time that day was over, both were panting from the heat and excitement of winning ever match. They let their pokémon rest again and went to sleep while thinking about fighting one another in the tournament. Steve thinking this opportunity perfect to see Mario's fighting ability and other pokémon and Mario as a chance to prove his abilities in real battles.

As the week past, both trained hard to get ready for the tourney and to be at their top awareness. Finally the day arrived when the tournament was to be held and both were up and ready long before the tournament was scheduled to begin. As the both ate breakfast they also thought about the pokémon that were ready for the battles. As they both arrived at the arena a wave of people looked at the different people and cheered on their personal favorite, while Mario and Steve were unknown and not cheered. A few told their friends about the kids and placed bets on them, but they were just trying to show that they had intuition, not really that they cared about the kids. They didn't wait long and had to go to different parts of the arena for their own matches.

"There are four brackets. I'm in the first one and you're in the fourth. The only time we'll meet is right at the end in the final's, unless one of is beaten."

Mario smiled, "Don't lose until you fight me." 

Steve laughed, "Fine, but you stay in it till the end. No excuses, unless you want to be left in this town while I go on alone."

"Sure. It's settled then. We can't lose until we meet in the finals. Then you're permitted to lose."

As the fights began the lowest fighters showed too many weaknesses early on and were beaten with ease. After fighting his way past the first of twelve rounds, Steve went to watch Mario's match. Unfortunately the match ended just when Steve got over there. 

(So much for seeing more of his pokémon before we fight. I guess I'll just have to go on what I know. He's right, though. I'm a bit fearful since I don't know what I'll face. Then again, he only knows three or four of my pokémon so the same fear must be in him.)

The next three rounds were over in the blink of an eye, all seeming more a waste of time then an actual fight and left Mario and Steve with a feeling of cockiness about such easy victories. As the worst trainers were being weeded out the better one's started showing less weaknesses and also a lot better pokémon. Steve and Mario started having to use more then one pokémon to compensate for experience and type weakness. They still won all the battles, though some drained their pokémon and took hours to finish. At the end of the first day they had gotten through six of the twelve rounds before the semis and the finals.

"That was fun. I think this tournament will be quite an easy thing to win. Not to mention we could use the money for traveling expenses. All in all this has been a good first day. No one has the same record we have. Winning all our matches without actually losing a pokémon is quite good."

"That was a good time, but I don't like how careless you get. You'll end up losing if you underestimate your opponent's so much. Geez Steve, if you lose early I get to leave you behind. Just remember you have to make it to the end."

"I remember and I will. Showing my carelessness is a way I get ready for my fights. Now we need to get some rest or else we won't be able to compete tomorrow."

With that they both turned over and slept, thinking of the battles they were going to fight the next day.

After waking up they took early showers and greeted each other. The battles that day would actually test their intelligence and ability with their pokémon. If they couldn't pull off a win with their regulars then they would have to rely on pokémon they didn't use and trust as much, the thought wasn't that good. 

They greeted each other before leaving for the tournament. Steve entered his next match ready to fight, only to see his opponent give up, due to his lack of sleep. He decided to watch Mario's match while waiting for his next match. He made it to the match in time to see Mario's flareon knocked down by a vaporeon. Mario was looking at his belt trying to think of which pokémon to use against the vaporeon. After careful deliberation he took a pokéball from his back pocket and threw it into the stadium. 

Mario seemed to smile as he calmly said "Go Draco!" 

Steve looked at what was appearing, trying to make sense of it. ((Draco? I wonder what this one could be. That looks a bit like a dragon but I don't think he would have one.))

The dragonite appeared above the other pokémon and knocked it down with a hyper beam. The other trainer looked at his pokémon with disgust at the fact that it couldn't take such an attack being as it couldn't lift itself off the ground. "Worthless vaporeon. That attack shouldn't faze a champion. I guess you aren't my ticket to fame." He puts the vaporeon back into the pokéball and releases a lapras into the arena. "Lapras, you can beat that flying thing. Just focus on its weaknesses."

The announcer was keeping up with the match, "The lapras shoots a beam at the dragonite, which engulfs the spectacular pokémon in a shell of ice. The dragonite is unable to move in its icy coffin. This seems like the end of the dragonite. What will Mario's next pokémon be?"

Mario calmly laughed at the announcer's comment and makes a motion with his hand. The dragonite responds by breaking out of the ice and creating a blizzard to over power the lapras. As the ice started forming in the sky it rained in sheets down upon the unsuspecting pokémon, who obviously already thought it had won the match. As it turned to see what people were shouting about he was pelted with hail stones the size of a bowling ball. As it fell to the ground the man gasped at the sheer sight of such a powerful pokémon. "I can't beat you. I'll throw in the towel."

Mario returned his dragonite with a smirk and stepped down from the platform to escape the reporters heading his way. As he briskly walked from the area he saw Steve to his right. He headed towards him with an odd look on his face. 

"Why aren't you at your match?"

"I already won. Great job Mario."

"Thank you. How much of the match did you see?"

"I came just as your flareon got knocked out."

"Good. Just checking to see how many pokémon you saw in that match. Since you won your match then I guess we're still on for meeting in the finals."

The next five matches were easier then the first six, though Steve and Mario couldn't figure out how such weak opponent's got through to the end. They rested after their twelfth and final match ended and let their pokémon regain their power. They woke up and left for the tournament after eating little food. As they arrived at the arena they placed their pokémon on their belts, ready to fight the next opponent and left each other with smile words to get each other through the semi-finals.

As Steve walked up to the place where he was supposed to fight he looked at his opponent and wondered what type the man looked like he would use. 

((He'll probably use a fighting pokémon judging by the build of the man. He looks like he's obsessed with his looks and muscles. I need to think about which pokémon to use.))

As the man looked him over he walked over and shook his hand. He smiled at Steve for a bit, then walked away and got to his position on the opposite side of the arena. "Ready to begin when you are, lad."

Steve got to his position and finally figured out which pokémon he'd try first. "Alakazam, don't fail me. Show this man your own fighting ability."

The man shook with laughter, "Have it your way, kid. Go gengar. Let's see who can win this one."

The gengar glanced at the alakazam and laughed at it. They both used a hypnosis attack, which put them both to sleep. As the man waited for his pokémon to wake up the alakazam started mumbling in his sleep. The gengar's smile contorted in pain as words were muttered by the sleeping alakazam. The gengar opened his eyes and fell to the ground in a heap as alakazam stopped speaking. The crowd gasped at the odd occurrence. The man scuttled in an imitation of Zoidberg at the situation of his pokémon. He returned the gengar and thought about his next phase of attack. He sent out a raticate to fight the sleeping psychic. As he approached the alakazam, he jumped and bit down on the alakazam's head with his hyper fang attack. The alakazam couldn't react in time and fell against the raticate.

"Go hitmonchan, return alakazam."

The battle began again, this time with a fighter against the rat. The rat had the obvious speed advantage but lacked a bit of power, while the hitmonchan had the power but lacked a bit in speed. The two hit each other, dodging in and out of attacks and seemed to be on an equal level of experience. As the two broke away from each other, panting and huffing at the other, they seemed to be preparing an attack. The hitmonchan used a fire punch as the raticate tried its water gun. As they collided, they each came out suffering from the previous attack, the raticate burned and the hitmonchan wet and angry. The hitmonchan used its agility to speed up against the opponent and attack while the raticate used a quick attack to take down the faster opponent. As the battle wore on the pokémon were slowly wearing down, though the raticate faster due to an unhealed burn. Finally the hitmonchan used a comet punch to repeatedly knock the raticate down. The raticate finally stayed down after the long battle.

"Incredible. No one's lasted so long against my raticate, not to mention its never been beaten. I wouldn't stop you from going on in the tournament unless I knew I had a chance, which I don't. I'll concede now, but I'll fight you later. Good bye for now, kid."

Steve finally breathed easy after the drawn out match with the man. ((That was a fun match, but that raticate was way to strong. I'll need to heal to get ready for tomorrow. I wonder how Mario's doing.))

As he thought it a cheer went up on the other field. Mario was once again walking away from cameramen when he saw Steve. "Walk with me and hurry up." As they walked to the pokémon center, Steve stopped occasionally for some people wanting to congratulate him. Mario turned down their compliments and walked on, acting as though he hadn't noticed them.

"Will you be ready for tomorrow, Mario?"

"I'm always ready to beat you in a battle Steve."

"We'll see. After today, I think the battle tomorrow will be fun."

"Fun? Your battle didn't seem like it would end. That's fun for you? Having to watch a match that you know you'll win in the end? You're a bit odd. Don't get too cocky over winning today. I still have some tricks up my sleeve."

They both went to sleep, dreaming of the fight that would take place the next day.


End file.
